Direct prize-dispensing games are popular entertainment machines that are commonly found in arcades, malls, retail stores, theaters, restaurants, bars, theme parks, and other locations with large concentrations or high traffic of people. These machines typically display objects, such as stuffed animals, trinkets, electronic devices, and other desirable prizes, inside a game cabinet and are clearly visible to those who pass by. Usually, these objects are offered as prizes to a player who wins or accomplishes some predetermined objective of the game. Typically, a player will insert a game credit, which may be some form of monetary credit, token, or the like to play the game. The player then plays the game and attempts to accomplish the predetermined objective in order to win the game. If the player is successful, a prize is typically immediately awarded to the player through a door or compartment in the game cabinet. When the objective is achieved, the game mechanism operates to release one of the prizes to a chute or pathway that leads to this compartment in the game cabinet.